Wild Rice and Mushroom Casserole
from Melinda Soares

This is easy and good, but it does take awhile to prepare due to cooking time.

Rice: 1 cup wild rice, 1/4 tsp salt, 3 cups boiling water
3 cups sliced fresh mushrooms
1/2 cup chopped onions
1/4 cup butter or margarine
1 cup grated old cheddar
1 large can stewed tomatoes (diced), juice included
1 tsp salt

1. Cook rice (covered) in boiling, salted water until nearly tender, around 30 minutes. Drain rice if necessary.
2. Sauté mushrooms and onion in butter for about 5 minutes.
3. Toss rice with all ingredients.
4. Place in casserole dish, cover and bake for 1/2 hour at 350F. If you put some potatoes in to bake as well, you'll have a nice vegetarian meal.

1 can black beans
1/4 cup chopped onion
garlic (optional)
dash of chili powder
dash of salt, pepper
bread crumbs
cooking oil (not olive)
1/2 cup water

Drain and rinse the beans. Heat a small saucepan. Add some cooking oil and cook the onions until soft. Add black beans, water, chili powder, salt, and pepper. Cook, stirring frequently and mashing beans with back of spoon or potato masher, until beans turn into a thick paste. Should be consistency of very dense, lumpy mashed potatoes, takes about 10-15 minutes. Let cool (can be made ahead to this point and refrigerated).

Form into small cakes and roll in bread crumbs. Heat about 1/4 - 1/2 inch of cooking oil in a sauté pan or skillet. Fry the cakes until bread crumbs are browned, turning once. About 10 minutes. Serve with salsa, sour cream, and tortillas.

Makes about 6-8 small cakes.

When I make this, I often add extra things to the bean cakes, like some salsa. If you add too much stuff they won't stick together, though, unless you also add a beaten egg. You can make a double-recipe and keep it in the refrigerator.

This is my last-resort, emergency dinner. When I get home and I'm really tired, the cupboard is bare and I can't afford to order takeout, this is what I make. The key to this being good is that all ingredients must be pretty good (flavorful) themselves.

Some pasta (I like to use flavored spaghetti or linguini, like tomato/basil. Sometimes I have homemade pasta left in freezer from a previous domestic frenzy)

Some very good olive oil (extra virgin cold pressed)

Good parmesan or asiago or romano cheese, grated

Some very flavorful chopped olives (to pit olives quickly and easily, make a small cut down the length of the olive, then mash it with your thumb. The crushed olive will release the pit. Pit a bunch of them and chop)

Optional odds and ends you may want to add -- mushrooms, shallot, finely diced mild onion, capers, sun-dried tomatoes, garlic.

Salt/pepper

Boil water and cook the pasta. Drain and put in serving bowl (if you pour the cooking water into an earthenware bowl, it will heat the bowl up. Pour the water out and throw the pasta into the handy, pre-heated bowl!). Pour on just enough olive oil to coat, and toss. Add olives and optional thingies, toss. Add cheese, toss. Serve immediately with green salad and/or bread.

Make more than you think you'll need, because it goes fast!

1 12-oz package of frozen peas
1 can stewed tomatoes
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1 small onion, diced
1 cup parmesan or romano cheese
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 package ditilani pasta
1/2 - 1 cup water

Boil water for pasta and cook pasta

In another pan:
Heat olive oil and cook onion and garlic in until both are soft
Add can of stewed tomatoes - stir for 2 minutes
Add 1/2 cup water (add more water if needed)
Add peas (frozen or canned; if you use canned be sure to drain them)
(you can substitute peas for any kind of beans - this is very good with pork & beans)

Cook until peas are cooked - mix well. Add drained cooked pasta to peas - mix well. Add cheese. That's it!

You can make this as a soup by adding more water and garlic and using less pasta.

This is about the only way I like spinach (other than in a salad). It's very quick, and you can adjust the amount of garlic and red pepper to your taste. This is a "non-recipe recipe" -- my attempt to duplicate one of my favorite entrees at a local Italian restaurant. The amounts are flexible and can easily be adjusted. The following amounts make two good-sized servings; just add a loaf of good bread, a glass of wine, and . . .

Thin pasta (spaghettini, vermicelli, angel hair)
Olive oil
1/2 to 2 cloves garlic, minced (the minced garlic from the jar may not be gourmet-quality, but it sure saves time)
Dried crushed red pepper flakes
1 to 1-1/2 cups frozen chopped spinach (the quick-frozen type, in a bag -- the block kind will only work if it is thawed and the water squeezed out before cooking, otherwise it is too watery/mushy)
Parmesan cheese

Cook enough pasta for 2 servings.

While pasta is cooking: heat 2-3 tablespoons of olive oil in a skillet. Add garlic and some red pepper flakes (a small pinch to 1/4 teaspoon or so depending on taste). Let this cook for a minute while the spices flavor the oil. Then add the spinach. Stir-fry 2-3 minutes until spinach is tender and bright green.

Drain the cooked pasta and immediately dump the hot noodles into the skillet with the spinach. Toss to mix well (off heat) and put into bowls; top with parmesan cheese.

Fast, spicy, good; maybe five minutes hands-on, then 20-25 minutes cooking away on the stove. This is our "Mexican" rice, which I came up with when I wanted to stop buying Rice-a-Roni Spanish rice mix every time we made burritos for dinner!

1 cup white long-grain rice
2 1/4 cup water
some garlic powder and onion powder
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp ground cumin
scant 3/4 Tbsp medium-hot pure chile powder (about 2 tsp, I think)
1 tsp salt
1 1/2 Tbsp ketchup ;) or some tomato puree

In a large pan or skillet over medium-high heat, dry-toast rice, shaking quite often, until golden brown.

In a separate bowl or cup, mix together all other ingredients (water, spices, tomato-y stuff). When rice is done, add water-spice-ketchup mixture to rice, bring to a boil, and cook for two minutes.

Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer for 20 to 25 minutes until the liquid has just evaporated. Remove from heat and let stand five minutes. Fluff up with a wooden spoon.

Barb's notes:

The differences between this and the original are that I considerably streamlined the recipe, after dropping the sauté step (chopped onion and garlic in butter) to lower the fat; I like to toast the rice; in the interests of expediency I use garlic powder and dried onion or onion powder (oh the shame!); and 1/3 cup (even 3 Tbsp) of chile powder is way too mouth-blistering with the New Mexico ground chile I got at the local Mexican grocery when we lived in northern California! Oh yeah, and my husband wanted a tomato-y taste, so I add my mystery ingredient ;)

Our favorite pizza crust recipe . . . We love it because it tastes great, has great texture, is really easy to make, and the prep time fits in very well with our pre-dinner schedule. To make homemade pizza with this recipe, spend 20 sec + 1 1/2 minutes + 10 minutes, over 40 minutes, then leave for an hour (we go off to pick up Mark from work), return, punch down, knead briefly, get out pan and toppings, turn on oven, roll out dough, top, stick in the oven, and snatch it out when it's done to your liking.

Makes enough for one large pizza and one little pizza, or four individual calzones, focaccia, whatever; "responds quickly to kneading," "rises quickly." A double recipe works out fine, too.

1 1/2 cup lukewarm water
One 1/4-oz. pkg active dry yeast (about 1 Tbsp)

3 1/4 cup (approx.) unbleached flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/3 cup yellow cornmeal, preferably stone-ground

1 1/2 tsp salt
scant 2 Tbsp good-quality olive oil

Pour the water into a large mixing bowl, stir in the yeast, and set aside for five minutes to dissolve. [Now I get out the rest of the ingredients and another bowl.]

When the yeast is dissolved, beat in 1 1/2 cups of the unbleached flour, the whole wheat flour, and the cornmeal. Beat vigorously with a wooden spoon for one minute, cover the bowl with plastic wrap, and set aside in a warm, draft-free spot for 10 minutes. [Now I set up the rest of the ingredients, and prep Joe and me to leave after I'm done.]

After 10 minutes, stir in the salt and olive oil (don't forget in your haste to get to the flour ;) ). Add the remaining unbleached flour (about 1 3/4 cups), about 1/2 cup at a time, until you have a soft, kneadable dough. I use my heavy-duty mixer with the dough hook, at a moderately low speed, and keep it mixing until the dough starts to really creep up the hook and it looks not quite totally sticky. Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead vigorously for about 2 minutes more [or about 8 minutes if all by hand], using sprinkles of flour to prevent sticking; you should have a soft, smooth, and elastic dough. Place the dough in a lightly Pammed bowl and turn over so the top surface of the dough is lightly coated with oil. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and set the dough aside in a warm, draft-free place until doubled, about one hour. [We are outta here!]

The "Basic Pizza" recipe, same book, has these hints:

- Dust a very large, heavy cookie or baking sheet (say 12"x18") with cornmeal. Punch down the doubled dough; knead briefly, then let it rest for five minutes. [Now I get out the toppings.] Roll dough out and lift into pan (if you fold the dough to move it into the pan, a light dusting of flour beforehand helps against sticking).

Barb's notes:

We bake our lightly topped pizzas at 450F for a bit under 20 minutes, until the crust is a nice light brown.

I've forgotten the oil and salt twice. Once I just stirred it in after I stirred in the rest of the flour, and that worked fine. The other time I didn't remember until the dough was ready to rise, so I kneaded in the salt at the end and just gave up on the oil. The crust was fine, but a little tough, and didn't rise as much.

The author says to follow this proportion of flours closely the first time, and then feel free to use more whole wheat flour and less unbleached flour.

Our favorite topping combo: plain tomato sauce from a can + shredded mozzarella + oregano & garlic powder + (either nothing else, or thinly sliced turkey pepperoni, or our latest--very thinly sliced red & yellow bell peppers and onion, either raw or sautéed leftovers--yum!)

The dumplings aren't all that quick to make up, but they're delicious!!! I use a big bag of coleslaw mix and some diced onion, and steaming seems to keep the dumplings together a bit better than boiling. We love the dipping sauce. These are great with the spicy Asian slaw.

Two cups shredded veggies -- mixture of mostly cabbage or bok choy, with carrots, mushrooms, onion, whatever to taste. Prepackaged coleslaw mix works surprisingly well.
Soy sauce
Water
Vinegar (white or rice)
Coupla dozen wonton/dumpling skins
Garlic (fresh, chopped fine, or powdered)
Ginger (fresh, chopped fine, or powdered)
Small bowl with water for dipping
Optional: Tbsp Hunan chili paste, or Tbsp plum sauce, or maybe tsp black bean sauce, or tsp
five-spice powder or other flavoring

Make the dipping sauce first and let it sit: mix equal parts soy sauce [I use more soy sauce - BL] and vinegar, about 1/8 cup per person. Mix equal parts garlic and ginger, about a clove's worth per person.

Stir-fry vegetable mix in a small bit of water and soy sauce. If you have it, add your favorite optional flavoring. Stir until translucent. Mix will taste sorta raw.

To make the dumplings, scoop about 1 1/2 teaspoons onto a dumpling skin (experiment until you find the right amount). Crunch the dumpling into a nice shape and dip the end into the small bowl of water to seal it.

Dumplings may be boiled for 3-5 minutes or steamed 5-10. They are done when they crinkle up and turn translucent. Dip dumplings in sauce. Magic!

Mark says the toasted sesame seeds are essential in this slaw.

Prep time: 5 minutes!
Makes four 1-cup servings.

1/4 cup rice vinegar
2 Tbsp low-sodium soy sauce
2 tsp dark sesame oil
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper

One 16-oz. pkg ready-to-eat coleslaw (we slice up our own, but we have a great mandoline/slicer, so it's pretty fast)
2 tsp sesame seeds, toasted

In a large bowl, combine rice vinegar, soy sauce, sesame oil, and crushed red pepper; stir well. Add coleslaw; toss gently to coat. Sprinkle sesame seeds over slaw mixture; toss gently. Serve immediately.

The Cooking Light recipe called for parsley and green onions as garnish.

3 cups cooked rice
1 egg, beaten
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
Vegetable cooking spray
2/3 cup tomato sauce
2 tsp Italian seasoning
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
1 Tbsp grated parmesan cheese
1 cup sliced fresh mushrooms
3/4 cup thinly sliced zucchini
1/4 cup sliced ripe olives
1/4 cup diced red pepper

Combine rice, egg, and 1/3 cup of mozzarella cheese in large bowl. Press into 12-inch pizza pan or 10-inch pie plate coated with cooking spray. Bake at 400F for 5 minutes. Combine tomato sauce, Italian seasoning, garlic powder, and black pepper, and spread over rice crust. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese. Layer 1/3 cup mozzarella, then veggies. Top with remaining 1/3 cup mozzarella cheese. Bake at 400 F for 8-10 minutes

Serves 4

Timesaver: use jarred pizza/spaghetti sauce

onion
garlic
2-3 carrots, chopped
1 tin chick peas + juice
1 tin red kidney beans + juice
1 tin tomatoes + juice
2 Tbsp chili powder

Fry onion and garlic. Add carrots, chickpeas, kidney beans, and tomatoes. Add chili powder, stir, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for about 1hour. Freezes really well.

4 large eggs
2 Tbsp sugar
1 cup milk
1 tsp salt
4/3 cup flour (1 1/3 cups)

Beat the eggs and sugar until thick and foamy. Add the milk and salt, stir well. Add the flour 1/3 cup at a time, mixing well after each addition. Beat the batter for about 5 minutes. Pour batter into a greased (pammed) glass baking pan. Bake in a 425F oven for 20-25 minutes. The pancake is done when the edges are golden brown and it has poofed up into a weird shape. It's different every time!

Serve with fresh whipped cream and jarred lingonberries. If lingonberries aren't an option, cranberry sauce would be good, as would any fruit.:)

In the Netherlands pancakes are as big as a wheel and often eaten as the main dish. They're prepared with bacon, apple, cheese, or just about any other topping thinkable.

4 cups of flour
salt
1 cake yeast (2/3 oz)
4 cups lukewarm milk
butter or margarine

Put the flour and the salt in a bowl. Make a well in the center. Add the diluted (with a little milk) yeast. Add 2 cups of milk and mix to a smooth batter. Add the rest of the milk. Leave to rise for 3/4 hour. Heat enough butter in a heavy skillet. Pour in part of the batter and fry the pancake on both sides. (You can toss the pancake in the air for turning, if you like. Otherwise use a spatula.) Keep them hot and serve with sugar and molasses or golden syrup.

2 Tbsp butter
1/2 cup minced onion
1/3 cup diced celery
2 cups diced raw potato
2 cups boiling water
2 cups fresh scraped or canned creamed corn
1 cup canned tomatoes
1 1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese
1 Tbsp minced parsley
one bay leaf
1/2 tsp basil
salt

Heat large saucepan and add butter. Cook onions and celery until softened. Add parsley, bay leaf, and basil. Add boiling water and potatoes. Cook until potatoes are soft, about 30 minutes (depending on size of pieces). Add corn, tomatoes, milk, and cheese, and heat until cheese melts and soup is hot. Taste and add salt and/or pepper to taste.

2 cups diced leeks or leek/onions mixed
2 Tbsp butter
2 Tbsp flour
2-3 cups peeled, diced potatoes
water
salt
milk or cream (optional)

Heat the pan over medium heat. Add butter and melt. Add leeks/onions and sauté until soft, about 3 minutes (don't let them brown). Add flour (this acts as a binder) and a pinch of salt, and sauté for 2 more minutes (to take the floury taste out of the flour). Add the potatoes, 2 teaspoons of salt and enough water to cover. Simmer on low heat until potatoes are soft, about 30 minutes. Taste and add additional salt if needed. Serve and mix in a few tablespoons of cream or whole milk into each serving if desired.

This is great with grilled cheese sandwiches. Also, you can add leftover vegetables like lettuce, broccoli, Brussels sprouts or carrots for a "soup du jour." The French also eat this cold.

A really good thick soup, from a good ethnic and regional recipes cookbook, Sundays at Moosewood Restaurant

2 cups chopped onions
1 Tbsp vegetable oil
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper (or to taste)
1 tsp grated fresh ginger
1 cup chopped carrots
2 cups chopped sweet potatoes (can substitute up to 1 cup white potatoes)
4 cups water

2 cups tomato juice
1 cup smooth peanut butter
1 Tbsp sugar (optional)

Sauté onions in oil. Stir in cayenne and ginger. Add the carrots and sauté a couple more minutes. Mix in potatoes and water, bring to a boil, then simmer for about 15 minutes, until veggies are tender.

In a blender/food processor, puree the veggies with the cooking liquid and the tomato juice. Return the puree to the soup pot. Stir in peanut butter until smooth. Taste, add sugar if required. Reheat the soup gently. Add more water or tomato juice for a thinner soup. Tastes great served with rye bread.

This is a soup-like dish, a bit sour, a bit hot. You usually serve it on top of rice, with an Indian vegetable dish on the side, but it can be eaten like a soup. The format of the recipe doesn't have the ingredients separately.

1 heaping tablespoon besan flour, which you can get at an Indian store. Add some water to make a paste. Add 1 litre buttermilk gradually, while stirring, until blended. Add 1 cup water, about 1 tsp salt, and 1/2 tsp sugar. Keep aside.

Put approximately 1 teaspoon oil in a deep pot/pan, adding more whenever necessary. Add 1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds, fry for a couple minutes. Add a pinch of asofaetida (from Indian store) and 1/2 teaspoon turmeric. Add 2 fresh chilies, chopped (or more/less according to taste). Add 5-10 curry leaves, and fry for another couple of minutes. Add the buttermilk mixture. Cook on medium low, constantly stirring, until just hot. Be very careful that you don't let it get to the boiling point, as it will curdle.

Inauthentic but Yummy Lo Mein
from Kelly Johnson

This is really easy.

long pasta (spaghetti, linguine, lo mein noodles, etc.)
soy sauce (low-sodium kind is okay)
sesame oil

optional:
sesame seeds
chicken, beef, pork, or shrimp*
steamed carrots
steamed peas
steamed broccoli

Boil enough pasta to feed everyone, drain when done. Pour enough sesame oil in the pasta to coat each noodle, toss. Pour enough soy sauce over noodles to change the color to darkish brown, then adjust for taste. Too much oil will make it bitter, and too much soy sauce will make it too salty**. Toss with the optional ingredients if desired.:)

* I stir fry the meat with the following seasonings: oriental five-spice powder, ginger, pepper, soy sauce, and fresh garlic.

** If it ends up too salty or bitter, just cook a little more pasta and add it to what you've already made, then adjust from there.

meat
veggies
oil, soy sauce

I don't really have a recipe for this, it's more of a technique for using lots of leftover things in the kitchen.

I use any meat, cut into small bits (cooked or uncooked). Nice to marinate this in some kind of sauce like orange juice with dash of soy sauce. Dice up some vegetables, like onion, celery, carrot, broccoli, string beans, cabbage, almost anything you like, really. Heat a skillet or wok. Add some cooking oil (not olive, flavor is too strong) and if the meat is raw, cook the meat. Take it out and add the onion and some garlic if you like it. Cook the onion to soften, then start adding other veggies in the order of their hardness. For example, you'd add carrots before adding cabbage. Cook until the vegetables are beginning to soften--maybe 10 minutes. Add the meat back in (if it's cooked, you're now adding it for the first time) and some sauce (good sauce ingredients include soy sauce, orange juice, splash of sesame oil, splash of fish sauce, oyster or duck sauce, soup stock, or just plain water). Simmer with lid on for a few minutes and serve over rice.

These are good mix-and-match, whatever's in the cupboard or freezer recipes. They're not exactly quick; we tend to plan this on weekends so we can have leftovers during the week. Each version has many of the same basic ingredients, but a different "sauce" holding it all together.

Each makes 8-10 servings

For both versions:

1 dozen corn tortillas, torn into bite-size pieces
1 4-oz. can diced green chilies
½ red bell pepper, diced (optional)
½ medium onion, diced (optional)
1 - 1½ cups cooked chicken, cut into chunks
1 cup frozen or canned corn (optional)
1 can kidney or pinto beans, rinsed and drained (optional)
2 cups grated cheese (jack or cheddar)

Version 1
In addition to the basics above, you need:

2 cans cream of chicken soup, undiluted
½ cup sour cream
¼ cup milk
½ cup salsa

Mix liquid ingredients together in large bowl. Stir in all other ingredients except cheese, and mix well. Spread in greased 13" x 9" casserole pan and top with cheese. Bake uncovered at 350F for 45 minutes (until bubbly in center).

Version 2
In addition to the basics above, you need:

4 eggs
2 cups buttermilk
1 tsp. ground cumin
½ tsp. oregano

Grease a 13" x 9" casserole pan. Spread half the tortilla pieces over the bottom. Spread half of the chilies, bell pepper, onion, chicken, and cheese over the tortillas. Repeat layers with remaining ingredients. Beat the eggs, buttermilk, and seasoning together and pour evenly over the casserole. Bake uncovered at 375F for 35 minutes (until set).

1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
1/2 cup frozen orange juice concentrate, thawed
1/4 cup olive or vegetable oil
1 tsp dried rosemary leaves, crushed
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp cloves
1/4 tsp salt

Combine ingredients in jar; cover and shake vigorously. Marinate either chicken pieces, boneless chicken breasts, fish fillets, or fish steaks in refrigerator for one hour. Remove chicken or fish from marinade; drain, and discard marinade. Grill, broil, or sauté as desired.

Makes 1 1/4 cups of marinade

(I have also brushed this on tofu, then broiled it)